Senior Ladies Footballers Win ‘B' Championship

The well worn cliché of  “ a game of two halves” can be aptly used to describe this championship “B' senior ladies football final between Bray Emmets and Carnew Emmets. Played in excellent conditions for good football, Bray started nervously and were guilty of giving away good possession on numerous occasions. Carnew capitalised on Bray's early jitters, scoring with a goal and a point in the first five minutes. The Bray defense were under constant threat in the early stages, but to their credit they kept their heads and battled bravely. Mikaela Shelley relieved the pressure for Bray scoring her first point after a strong run. She followed this with two unanswered pointed frees  narrowing the Carnew lead. Carnew responded with a pointed free of their own before Niamh Ryan for Bray scored a spectacular point from an acute angle wide on the right. As the half drew to a close, loose play from Bray possession resulted in a Carnew's second goal giving them a deserved four point lead at the break. Bray had played poorly, but were still very much in the game.

The re-start seemed to breathe new life into Bray and they came out with all guns blazing, scoring three points within ten minutes:  two from captain Val Hughes and one from Sinead Boland. Bray were now playing like a different team, and their defence stronly marshalled by  Ailing Ni Annaidh  was ably supported by big second half performances by Aoife Heffernan and Eadoine Lenihan. The Carnew lead was now reduced to just one point and when Karen Reilly scored Bray's only goal in the fourteenth minute following great support play, the destiny of this match swung firmly in the Bray girls favour. Bray extended their lead with four more points from hot-footed Mikaela Shelley. Carnew tried hard to get back into the game, but were kept at bay by strong defensive play from Caroloine Bolger, Sheena Smith, Jenny Ding, Laura Richardson and the young Eileen Henley who had her best game all year.

Testimony to their superioriy was evident in the second half scoring, where Carnew where restricted to just one point. Bray retained the trophy with a five point winning margin and full credit to them for turning what appeared to be a losing battle into a commanding winning performance. Final Result (17/9/06)   Bray Emmets 1-12  Carnew Emmets  2-4

The Bray Emmets Team: Christine Murphy, Caroline Bolger,  Sheena Smith, Jenny Ding, Laura Richardson, Aisling Ni Annaidh, Eileen Henley, Aoife Heffernan, Eadaoine Lenihan, Mikaela Shelley (0-7), Sinead Boland, (0-1), Val Hughes, capt. (0-2), Niamh Ryan (0-2), Karen Reilly (1-1),  Niamh Coleman.  Subs:  Sarah Mc Graynor, Roisin Linnie, Amanda Gilooly, Jessica Concannon, Kim Cusack (for Niamh Coleman), Lorraine Hourihan, Sinead Finn. 

Bray Senior Ladies Football team in B Championship Semi -Final

Bray Emmets 4-24, Valleymount  1-04;  

Bray Emmets are through to the Senior B championship final following a comfortable victory over Valleymount  last Sunday, 27 th August 2006  . The disappointment of losing the ‘A' semi-final was firmly put to bed with an emphatic victory that was never in doubt after the Bray ladies opened an early lead with a series of well taken scores from open play. Valleymount never quite got to grips with the pace and movement of the Bray forwards, but this was a performance characterised by solid defensive work and creativity finished off in excellent style by some great scores.  Valleymount tried desperately hard to curtail Bray's efforts, but the rout continued in the second half as the Emmets, using their full compliment of five substitutes ran out comfortable winners.

 Bray Emmets Team: Christine Murphy, Caroline Bolger,  Sheena Smith, Jenny Ding, Laura Richardson, Aisling O'hAnnaidh, Eileen Henley(0-1), Aoife Heffernan (0-2), Mikaela Shelley (0-8), Sinead Boland, (3-5), Val Hughes, capt. (0-3), Niamh Ryan, Karen Reilly (0-1), Catherine Corbett (0-4), Lisa Brady. Subs:  Sarah McGraynor (for Niamh Ryan), Roisin Linnie (for Catherine Corbett), Jessica Concannon (for Eileen Henley), Kim Cusack (1-00) (for Val Hughes), Niamh Coleman (for Aoife Heffernan).